Chapter 23: Chapter 23

SILVER

“You… This cannot be right…

“You finally fucked him…and then he thrust ~so~ hard into you from behind that you hit your head on the edge of the, what did you call it, the ~red nest~? And then you ~passed out~?”

Elena is free from her pole, but shackled and chained as she sits while I eat breakfast, sharing a log with her by the lake.

I woke up with a bump on my head, breakfast prepared, and a sorry note from my Dragon Lord, and now I am trying to cope with Elena’s taunting.

“Um…well…” I trail off quickly. Let’s just say I already regret telling her that I had an awkward occurrence last night with Storm.

“Well, what?” A new, huskier voice interrupts, and I see Freezkol smiling as she walks out of a Gypsy wagon that’s covered in midnight paint and stars.

It must be her residence.

“Nothing.” I shake my head and munch on a fresh bread roll with a stick of cheese while I also pick at a bowl of big, juicy blueberries.

Freezkol kneels beside the log and leans back on her hands, bathing in the morning sunlight.

“Elena, this is Freezkol; she’s a Dragon and a Sprite Medium.”

“Silver Breeds and their antics,” Elena laughs mockingly while Freezkol rolls her eyes.

“No one ever believes my abilities at first if I’m introduced as a Sprite Medium…

“They never believe what I can do with my Moon Glass until they see,” Freezkol brags happily, while Elena goes quiet and glares, shrugging in her chains.

“Rude Rogues…always…like Drax.” Freezkol watches me now with a raised brow.

“What?” I ask, feeling and seeing her aura of judgment and curiosity. “What have ~I~ done?”

“You followed Drax into the forest last night—”

“~Who~ haven’t you done, apparently,” Elena taunts me as she interrupts Freezkol.

“I didn’t ‘do’ anyone!” I snap.

“No, just the wall of the red nest when you pounded into it so hard you knocked yourself out,” Elena continues, and I go further red in the face when I glance up, feeling suspicious eyes on me.

I see Risen pretending to stand by herself in the distance, separated from most of the other Dragons as she watches on as Freezkol talks to me.

“Drax said you offered to sexually please him,” Freezkol cuts the crap out and jumps straight to the point.

“Your aura rings true, Silver, as I say this. Risen is Drax’s mate. They are unclaimed to each other, but she is shocked by your carelessly offering such a thing to him.

“Can you understand she is hurt?”

“I was caught up in emotion when I offered,” I whisper, feeling extreme guilt as I lower my hands onto the edge of my plate, having lost my appetite. “I’m so sorry.”

“You better tell Risen that,” Freezkol advises me, and then she looks nervous as familiar boot steps crunching through the sand get closer to my location.

Elena also pales, so I know who is behind me, especially when I feel the warm hand caress the top of my bruised head very gently.

“Come for a walk with me, pipsqueak,” Storm murmurs from behind me, and as I jump to my feet, he motions for Freezkol to stand.

“Guard the prisoner and don’t berate my mate about anything that happened on the night of the Blood Raven’s death.

“Silver is the reason you live and breathe with the thoughts of your life from over seven centuries ago. She is your savior, and she will not be disrespected.”

Storm waits for me as I turn to see him glaring at a blushing and nervous Freezkol.

Elena stares on in awe at Storm’s protective speech before connecting with me mentally.

~“I take back my taunting. Your hottie ancient Legend is sweet. My mate could learn a thing or t—”~ She abruptly gets cut off as Storm takes a threatening step forward to glare down at Elena.

“Don’t look so complacent nor dare to interact with my mate after you coerced her into injuring her body for my attention.

“Be thankful and be on your knees with regret and gratitude…that I am allowing you to live without ridding you of your wings or taking your life.”

Storm only stops when I put a hand on his chest over his gray jacket and white shirt.

~“I’m okay,”~ I answer him privately before turning to Elena. ~“Who is your mate you speak of, hmm? Why aren’t you with him?”~

I get satisfaction when Elena glares at the ground and refuses to answer me.

Clearly, she was happily taunting me before because it took her mind off her own issues with mating.

“Follow me…~amica mea~.” Storm guides me with a large hand at the nape of my neck, massaging and strong as he leads me toward the forest.

“How are you feeling?” he asks once we are in the privacy of the forest.

“Embarrassed,” I whisper, finally finding the courage to turn and face him eye to eye. “You just stuck it in; you just started to thrust, and then I was so clumsy and hit my head and—”

“I ~know~, pipsqueak. I watched the whole thing.”

Storm smirks a little bit, looking guilty, amused, and all-knowing at the same time. “I am sorry. It isn’t your fault but my own for being too rough with you.”

“I wasn’t steady on my knees, but thank you, Storm; it was nice to have you inside me…,” I murmur as I think about it. “It was nice.”

“I hope it was more than nice.” Storm narrows his eyes at me. I look him over and then turn and start to walk quickly into the forest, away from him.

“I am grateful for your generosity,” I say formally as I continue to trudge my way ahead through the greenery, wearing a new light-blue dress that I also found available to wear and prepared for me this morning.

“What generosity? Letting that Rogue off the pole she should still be chained to, humiliated for causing you bodily harm?” Storm growls to himself.

From my place ahead of him on the lightly trodden path, I turn to face him abruptly. He stops also, but not where I expect.

I thought I had been fast and that I was far in front of him.

Instead, my hands fly up, and I find myself laying my soft hands over his warm, hard neck as I take a small step back and look up into his burned-golden gaze.

Storm was right behind me the whole time, in my shadow.

“I was speaking of your generosity in allowing me another place by your side,” I answer honestly, “for giving me a chance.”

“I am more than happy to have you with me… You…” Storm seems lost for words as he assesses me with his warm gaze, and he smirks. “You’re adorable, pipsqueak…like our babies…another baby.”

“I’m not a baby!” I complain while smiling, my clenched fists on my hips even though I know he is purposely baiting me and teasing me for fun, which means now I can tease too.

“Did you bring me all the way out into the forest to simply tell me I am a baby? Ill-advised? A pipsqueak?

“I always imagined my mate would call me a violet-eyed beauty, but you never call me anything like that. I’m always referred to as small, young, innocent, or naive…or worse, stupid.

“I am far from stupid. I am kind. I am smart, and I am very much eager to learn from my mistakes. No need for constant referrals to what I don’t have.

“In seven hundred years, you will make fun of me for being so young when you’ll be nearly two thousand years old, your flesh sagging and falling from your very bones.

“Like a diseased old witch hiding in the shade and squinting even when it’s ~overcast~—”

“Watch that cheeky mouth, Silver,” Storm narrows his eyes and answers me with his classic rumble, a warning behind the short tone.

“Or what?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

“How typical of an ill-advised fledgling. How does this sound? I am mean to you, and you want me so ~desperately~ to be kind and generous.

“Now I ~am~ kind as well as generous, and you are trying to make me ~mean again~.”

Storm closes the small gap between us, and his hand slowly rises and clasps around my throat, like last night, and he leans down until we are nose to nose.